A FORMER patient returned to St Peter’s Hospital to thank the off-duty nurse who had saved his life after he suffered a heart attack while out shopping.

Ron Every, 76, of Pyrford Woods Close, Pyrford, was in Waitrose, West Byfleet, when he collapsed at the checkout. Quick-thinking nurse Debbie Palmer from Woking was also in Waitrose doing her shopping when she heard the commotion at the tills and ran over to offer help.

“She saved my life and I will always be very grateful to her,” said Ron, when he went to thank Debbie on Friday. He visited her at St Peter’s in Chertsey where she has worked for 24 years and where he was cared for after his attack.

Debbie was able to give CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) in the supermarketstraight away to save Ron’s life. Friday was the first time that they had met since that day and he was keen to express his thanks to her.

Matron Debbie, 48, said: “I was on the second week of a fortnight’s holiday and had taken my mother, Doreen, to do some shopping. We had just arrived at the supermarket and heard a clatter — I was worried and thought my mother had fallen over some vegetables. I turned round and saw that she was fine so I carried on with the shopping.

“I went up another aisle towards the tills and then saw a huddle of people around a man on the ground. I could see he wasn’t breathing and there was no cardiac output. I started a cardiac massage and also did mouth-to mouth.

"By this time Waitrose staff had called an ambulance. It seemed to be about eight to 10 minutes from when the man fell until the ambulance arrived. He went into ventricular fibrillation, he had a funny heart rhythm and the paramedics had to use defibrillators twice.

“They got a heart rhythm back and he started breathing for himself again. He was then taken to St Peter’s in the ambulance.”

Miss Palmer said that even though there would have been first aiders in the store, it was still a hard decision to make whether to start mouth-to-mouth or cardiac massage.

She said: “When people have a funny heart rhythm there is a gasping breath. This can make some people think the person is still breathing but it is not an effective breath. This is the first time I have performed mouth-to-mouth — it is not the sort of thing you do in hospital as we have equipment to help us.

“Anybody with the right sort of training could have done what I did on the day. It emphasises the fact that people who have the training really can save lives.”

Miss Palmer said she enjoyed meeting Ron at the hospital on Friday and speaking to him about what had happened. Mr Every has little recollection of what happened on the day he collapsed. He was in hospital for almost two weeks after his fall but is unable to recall the first week in hospital.

He said: “My wife Veronica and I were going to Lloyds Bank for an appointment and we stopped off at Waitrose. It was probably about 2.30pm. I cannot remember going into Waitrose and the next six or seven days after that in hospital — I have no recollection of what happened.”

Ron said that family members visited him in hospital where he had been admitted to the coronary care unit. He said: “In the days I can remember when my memory returned, my family visited me and my son Simon brought me a radio to keep me entertained. I am extremely appreciative of what Debbie did for me that day. It was good to thank her.”